Story of a complaint: Public Transport Crisis

In conjunction with the publication of the audit report on the public transport crisis, the Office of the Ombudsman continues to handle complaints about the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety

​In conjunction with the publication of the audit report on the public transport crisis, the Office of the Ombudsman continues to handle complaints about the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety. ​In 2018, the Office of the Ombudsman received 826 complaints about the Ministry of Transport, marking a sharp rise in the number of complaints compared to previous years.

The complaints relate to numerous and varied issues: delays in the handling of public complaints; failure of buses to keep to their schedule; failure to reinforce bus lines; lack of drivers; delay in the training of drivers; changes in policy relating to ways of paying the driver; charging of higher bus fares because of invalid "Rav Kav" bus smartcards; failure to use the announcement system; deficient planning and advancement of public transport, etc. 

Further details about the handling of the complaints against the Ministry of Transport in 2018 will appear in the annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman, which is due to be published in June 2019.

The following are two examples of complaints handled by the Office of the Ombudsman, relating to the planning and infrastructure of public transport:

A permit for the extension of a bus parking lot was granted "overnight"

A resident of El'ad complained about the permit granted for the extension of the bus parking lot situated near the street in which he lived.  According to him, the permit was granted "overnight", without the objections of the residents who were likely to suffer from the extension being heard.  Following the intervention of the Office of the Ombudsman, the municipality engineer notified that a decision had been made to revoke the permit and set up a committee to hear the claims of residents objecting to the extension plan.

The bus stop adversely affected the quality of life of the neighbouring residents

A resident of Modi'in Illit complained that a bus stop that was the starting point for intercity bus routes was situated near his house.  According to him, for the most part of the day the residents suffered from unbearable noise that adversely affected their quality of life.  Following the inquiry of the Office of the Ombudsman with the National Public Transport Authority, and in light of additional complaints received by the Authority on the issue, it was decided to move the starting point of the bus routes to another bus stop.  The complainant thanked the Office of the Ombudsman for its intervention.